New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) praised President Obama’s work to help states battered by Hurricane Sandy as “outstanding” Tuesday, but cautioned that the recovery would be a prolonged effort.

Christie, a prominent surrogate for GOP candidate Mitt Romney, said Obama had moved quickly to help designate his state a disaster area to better expedite federal assistance.

“The federal government’s response has been great. I was on the phone at midnight again last night with the president, personally, he has expedited the designation of New Jersey as a major disaster area,” said Christie, in an interview with NBC’s “Today.”

“Last night, I was on the phone with FEMA at 2 a.m. this morning to answer the questions they needed answered to get that designation and the president has been outstanding in this. The folks at FEMA, [Administrator] Craig Fugate and his folks have been excellent,” he continued.